The Principals
Management Development
Programme (PMDP)
Does it really work?
The Matric Results and School Principals
• Matric results and the debate about quality and
standards?
• High school Principals and accountability for
their schools’ results
• Primary school Principals and ANA
• Principals are being placed on the carpet!
PMDP Research
Rollout Progress
November
Report
2011.ppt
December 2010.ppt
Principals, Accountability and Training
• Principals are held accountable worldwide, but…
• They must be personally capable, qualified,
experienced
• If we point fingers…
• We must also question their preparation for the
job…
• At present training is largely left to Universities
(with a focus on qualification and certification –
rather than skills development and application)
PMDP Research
Rollout Progress
November
Report
2011.ppt
December 2010.ppt
Leadership and management skills
• Leadership/management skills are required for
effective schools
• Very little has been done to prepare SAs
principals
• The Provincial DoE/NGO efforts are minimal
• The most visible and large scale training for
principals is the ACE – School Leadership
• But, the Jury is still out on whether it ‘works’
PMDP Research
Rollout Progress
November
Report
2011.ppt
December 2010.ppt
The ACE – School Leadership
• Aimed at future principals (a long-term strategy)
• The Evaluation of the ACE (Bush et al, 2009)
–Two ambitious and different aims
• Mentoring
• Networking
–A surprisingly positive response from participants?
• Inconsistencies across Provinces
• ‘Mentoring’ not understood
• ‘Networking’ confused with collaborative study
–Effect on learner results largely negative
PMDP Research
Rollout Progress
November
Report
2011.ppt
December 2010.ppt
The ACE (SL) – Some personal observations
• The ACE is conceptually different in design
–It correctly identifies mentoring and on-site support
and networking
• But…Universities are not geared for delivery
• Competent, trained Mentors are in short supply
–Has a paradigm shift happened?
• Who is providing the funding?
–…when they don’t pay?
• ACE is a long-term strategy – we don’t know yet if it
works
PMDP Research
Rollout Progress
November
Report
2011.ppt
December 2010.ppt
Another Intervention?
PMDP
• The Principals Management Development
Programme (PMDP)
–An innovation in Education (modelled on corporate
sector development training)
–Currently underway in KZN
–On-going tracking is very positive
–Great potential to make meaningful and
sustained change in management
–Improving results quickly
PMDP Research
Rollout Progress
November
Report
2011.ppt
December 2010.ppt
Some comments on the PMDP
‘…the work of the PMDP is exceptional in its scope and
impact on school performance in South Africa.’ Mary
Metcalf (DBSA)
‘…fixing the education challenge starts with the most
important person in the school – the principal – and this
initiative is aimed at equipping schools with the skills that
enable the whole school to benefit…the initiative proves
that partnerships between private and public sector can
make a tangible difference in society where it is most
needed’. Jay Naidoo (J&J Development Projects Trust
PMDP Research
Rollout Progress
November
Report
2011.ppt
December 2010.ppt
So, what are the PMDP objectives?
• Rapidly upgrading the management skills of principals
in selected schools through a highly applied
methodology
• Strengthening the work relationship between the four
critical layers in the functioning of a school (Ward
manager/ Principal/ SMT and SGB)
• Improving the coaching and support skills of Ward
Managers and other DoE officials
• Developing sustainable professional learning
communities and building a public/private funding and
delivery model
(PMDP Research Report, 2011)
PMDP Research
Rollout Progress
November
Report
2011.ppt
December 2010.ppt
PMDP and Partnerships
• A strong multiple partner initiative
–Professional Solutions Africa (PSA)
–PriceWaterhouseCooper (PWC)
–University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN)
–KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education
(KZNDoE)
• PMDP is aimed at both Primary and Secondary
schools as well as the Ward/Circuit managers, to
assure sustainability
PMDP Research
Rollout Progress
November
Report
2011.ppt
December 2010.ppt
How PMDP is delivered
• Monthly weekend residential workshops,
followed by:
• Mentoring/ Coaching in the Principal’s school
to support the application and assimilation of
learning into practice
• The submission of 24 outputs directly related
to the work a principal should be doing
PMDP Research
Rollout Progress
November
Report
2011.ppt
December 2010.ppt
Does it work – and how do we know?
The empirical facts:
The pilot group (50 schools) – in grade 12,
• An average improvement on previous year – 12%
(against a national decline)
• The same schools achieved a further 9% the next
year
• Of the first full cohort 573 schools in 2010, 197
offering matric averaged 15.8% improvement on
matric results
PMDP Research
Rollout Progress
November
Report
2011.ppt
December 2010.ppt
How is it happening?
• This looks good on paper, but why, and how is
it happening? Can it be sustained?
• Further Research:
–A large scale survey of 2009 and 2010 schools
–Included principals and SMT members
–Responses from 550 schools
PMDP Research
Rollout Progress
November
Report
2011.ppt
December 2010.ppt
The Survey Data
• 70% - PMDP is not a duplication
• 91% - learner attendance and punctuality has
improved since PMDP
• 95% - teachers more conscious of and
managing punctuality and attendance
(including their own)
• 76% - Weekend workshops were different from
other workshops they attend (NB Methodology)
• 87% - Positive changes to management were
strongly influenced by the PMDP
PMDP Research
Rollout Progress
November
Report
2011.ppt
December 2010.ppt
More Survey Data
• 95% - felt facilitators had sufficient skill and
knowledge to meet principals’ needs
• 88% - felt Ward Managers were supportive of
PMDP practices
• 78% - reported Ward Managers now working in
similar ways to PMDP facilitators
• 95% - PMDP has provided skills to run good
schools
• 95% - the requirement to complete outputs (with
support from mentors) helped make actual
changes in practice
PMDP Research
Rollout Progress
November
Report
2011.ppt
December 2010.ppt
Perhaps the most important?
• 96% - confirmation that the Curriculum
Management Tracker has made significant
changes to the way curriculum is implemented.
PMDP Research
Rollout Progress
November
Report
2011.ppt
December 2010.ppt
In Summary…
The PMDP seems to have brought about:
• More learners and teachers in class and on
time
• Innovative, personalised learning of skills by
the Principals
• Support of the Ward Managers
• Better management of Curriculum
implementation and control
Hence, better results??
PMDP Research
Rollout Progress
November
Report
2011.ppt
December 2010.ppt
PMDP and current thinking in SA?
• SAFM’s ‘Forum at Eight’ (14 May 2012)
–Prof Mary Metcalf (DBSA)
–Prof Ihron Rensburg (NPC Commissioner)
–Yoliswa Dwane (Head of Policy, Equal Education)
• Pannelists reflected on Trevor Manuel’s paradigm
shift that is called for in the NPC’s Development
Plan for Education (which focuses on Principals’
competencies) and noted….
PMDP Research
Rollout Progress
November
Report
2011.ppt
December 2010.ppt
NPC’s Development Plan for Education noted
specifically the poor performance of schools
with regard to:
• Curriculum coverage (as little as one third in many schools)
–PMDP Curriculum Management Tracker
• Time on Task ( as low as 3.5 hours in some schools as opposed
to required 6 hours)
–Teacher and learner absenteeism reduced by PMDP
• The perceived lack of support for teachers and
schools from District Offices.
–Direct involvement of Ward managers in PMDP
PMDP Research
Rollout Progress
November
Report
2011.ppt
December 2010.ppt